Faster Rescue Time Sought

LAUDERHILL — A little-known cow tunnel may be the best way for emergency vehicles to get to the other side of Florida's Turnpike, a city official says.

Cows once grazed in these parts, passing through the tunnel to reach the grass on the other side. The cows are long gone, and the tunnel closed nearly 20 years ago.

But that same tunnel could be a shortcut for emergency vehicles and community shuttles traveling between Lauderhill's eastern and western neighborhoods, said Earl Hahn, the city's planning and zoning director.

Hahn presented his idea last year to Broward County's Metropolitan Planning Organization, which sets transportation priorities and decides which projects get built.

Opening the tunnel would cost about $150,000, according to one estimate.

The tunnel, in the 1700 block of Northwest 51st Avenue, is too narrow for two-way traffic. But it is large enough to serve as a one-lane connector for police and fire-rescue vehicles and community shuttles.

"It would be much quicker," said Lauderhill Mayor Richard J. Kaplan, who chairs the planning board. "That could save lives."

One proposal calls for an electronic gate that would open only for authorized vehicles, Hahn said.

"Our problem is there is no good connector between the east side and west side of the turnpike," Kaplan said. "We have to go through Plantation or Lauderdale Lakes on main thoroughfares. It causes delays."

The planning board included the proposal in its long-range plan for 2025, Hahn said.

The tunnel, once used as a shortcut by students, was sealed in 1986.

Lauderhill residents fought to have the tunnel sealed as long ago as the 1960s, complaining that the underpass was rat-infested and a haven for juvenile delinquents.

The turnpike overpass near Northwest 19th Street became a safer shortcut for students when it opened in 1987.

If the tunnel were to be reopened, it would be closed to pedestrians, Kaplan said.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2028.